Chapter Text
"In this video, I’m taking a group of my mates’ hiking!" The 17-year-old British blonde starts his vlog, holding the video over his head, pointing it at himself and behind him.
You stand next to Jack, George, Tubbo, and Ranboo. Each one of you has grown big in the gaming community in the last year or so. Everyone around you made Minecraft videos, with a few exceptions. However, you grew big on survival games like Ark: Survival Evolved, Subnautica, the Forest, and the Hunter: Call of the Wild. Sometimes you’d play games like Overwatch, The Last Guardian, and Minecraft. You don’t do roleplays, such as the Dream SMP, but when others did mods or funny videos they sometimes included you.
Out of all of you, Tommy had the largest amount of subscribers. 10.8 million on YouTube, next was George with 9.57 million. Then you, with 7.7 million. Your plan is to beat George in the next couple of months for your 1st anniversary.
At the moment, you and Ranboo were only visiting the UK. You see, the rest of them lived in this country while you two lived in the United States. His parents let him come, and your mother let you tag along although you’re still minors. You were told to stick together, and because of the two-month difference between your birthdays, they made Ranboo in charge.
The two of you had met years ago over a game of Minecraft - back when you played it a lot more - and he was your first online friend. Although your mother always yelled at you for having online friends, you didn’t stop talking with him. It’s not like you had many friends in real life; you weren’t as popular back then.
About a year after Ranboo and you met, you asked your mom if you could meet up and she agreed; eventually. You must have annoyed her because she announced you were leaving, not even two days after you last asked. Your family stayed at a hotel a couple of towns away from Ranboo’s.
It was an hour and a half long car ride to get to your "meeting place"; a park that was a ten-minute drive from his house, because it was a little awkward to meet him at his own house. You agreed it was a perfect spot. When you did see him, you were shocked at his height. You didn't believe him over text when he said he was six feet - even now you can't believe that he's grown six more inches while you seemed to not grow from your five feet and four inches.
Your 8-year-old brother tried to embarrass you but failed miserably. He mentioned something about the time you tripped when you were presenting something at school but then you fired back at him, mentioning the time he was caught picking his nose during silent reading. It backfired though when he started crying and ran to your mother and she scolded you. Ranboo thought it was the funniest thing because he was an only child and didn’t get to mess around with little siblings.
From there on, you were the only one who knew what Ranboo looked like before the mask and glasses became his thing. Two years later, he decided to start streaming, because quarantine hit, and everyone was bored. He actually convinced you to start streaming three months in. Now that he’s already hit his 1-year and you’re about to hit yours in a couple of months, you’ve started planning a way to celebrate. That was one of the things you discussed on the plane flight to the UK.
Tommy starts talking to the camera, bringing you back into reality and into the video. You missed what he said after his intro, but it was probably about asking for more subscribers or about what you were doing in the woods when the sun was so close to setting behind you. "Actually, (Your Name) came up with the idea, but-"
You jump in. "But Tommy wants all the credit, as usual." You say, loud enough for the camera to pick it up. Tubbo and George laugh out loud, trying to cover their mouths, while Jack bends at the waist, laughing loudly. Ranboo laughs but still stands up straight whilst you laugh, smiling at the blonde a couple of yards in front of you.
Tommy laughs and then turns towards the group, holding the camera in front of him but having it point up at his face, "Well- they’re- they’re not wrong." He then burst out laughing again. Then looks down at the camera, “Please, guys, I’m a good person-” He kept rambling and you guess that that bit will be edited out.
He then turns the camera towards the group and laughs. “We’ll fix that later…” You hear him mumble to himself.
"So, is anyone here a good nature guide?" Tommy asks, zooming at everyone else.
You raise your hand, the camera zooming in on you. "I don’t have a degree, but based on how many survival games I’ve played, you could say I’m an expert."
"Okay, perfect! (Your Name), you'll lead the way." Tommy yells, walking over and ushering you forward. You almost trip over your footing but got into step with the blonde. You put your hand on your mouth to stifle a giggle and continue walking, careful to stay on the path.
It stays dry for the beginning of the trip, but there are large puddles of water spotted all over the trail from the storm last night. There are some fallen trees in the path that you could easily step over, and some branches had to be pushed out of the way. Most of them were up higher so you laughed at Ranboo and Tommy. They were the tallest, so they had to constantly push branches out of their faces. Tubbo and you were about the same height, but you were smaller by three inches.
Tommy had migrated back next to Jack; They were discussing something, but you were too far up to hear. Tubbo is walking up next to you, as you see a branch that is a little way ahead; it’s hanging somewhat down in your’s, Tubbo’s, and Ranboo’s faces. You bump Tubbo’s arm, and he looks at you as you point at the branch and then tilt your head back in a quick motion.
It takes Tubbo a second to understand what you want to do, but then he gets it, gasping silently and nodding. Ranboo is looking to the left of the trail watching birds flutter through the leaves and squirrels jumping from one branch to another. He is too distracted to see what you guys are planning.
Keeping in step, you continue down the path until you reach the branch. Unknowingly to you, Tommy is pointing the camera at the two of you and laughing from behind, waiting to capture what’s going to happen. When Tubbo walks past it, he holds the branch for a couple of seconds and then lets go when Ranboo walks past.
The lower end hits him in his chest while the higher branch hits his face, knocking his sunglasses off and onto the dirt trail. His sweatshirt and hair are covered in water from the raindrops on the leaves. Some even sprinkle on you and Tubbo but the two of you are too busy laughing to even care or notice. Other than Tommy, who is recording the whole thing, everyone is confused and stops behind Ranboo, curious to know what happened.
“Great joke, guys.” You hear Ranboo say as he bends over to pick his sunglasses up. He then wipes the dirt and dust off the lenses. “Very original; it has never happened to me before.” Anyone could hear the sarcasm and playful tone in his voice.
You and Tubbo high-five, “One point for the small people!” You both turn around to face the others but before you can ask if Ranboo is alright, Tommy comes walking up, pushing the camera into view, “Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be? Tall people versus short people?”
“Were you recording all of that?” You ask Tommy, a smile never leaving your face. You laugh when he nods, then responds to his question, “In that case, it’s still 4 – 2.” You point out.
Jack makes a face as George responds with, “I’m not really up for that battle.”
“We can be judges.” Jack says, looking between the two “teams”.
“Okay, deal, whoever wins can…” You think for a second, trying to come up with a result, “Yep, I got nothing.”
Tubbo gasps, “What if the loser has to say something really embarrassing on stream?” He asks.
“Or do something for the winners on stream,” Tommy says, his eyes looking off into space.
“We could always think of something that we can all agree on later,” Ranboo suggests, shrugging.
The other two decide to be judges and come up with different challenges. Then you all agree and continue down the path. Ranboo walks next to you guys, so he doesn’t get hit with a tree branch again. You don’t think that his sunglasses can take another hit, or they’d break.
You stop in the path down a bend from where you guys started. The road fell for a few feet and stayed flat for a few more feet and then rose back up; it was like there was a small ditch in the road. With the storm, it was completely filled with water.
“Oh…” You hear Tubbo say. The rest of the group gather around Tubbo, taking up the entire path. You look over at everyone and you see the same expression on all their faces; confusion.
"I brought my good shoes though…" George complains. It was a pretty small jump, but if anyone were to jump and miss, they’d be up to their knees in water. In Tommy and Ranboo’s case, they’d be soaked to their mid-calf.
"Why would you bring good shoes... hiking?” Tommy laughs at George. You smile and shake your head as you think about whether you should jump it or not. Surely there was a way around? Trees and bushes surround the grass next to the trail, leaving a small enough gap for you or Tubbo to maneuver around, but the rest of them would be forced to jump.
"Intense gamer moment," Tommy says, moving the camera closer to the side of your face. You look up at him due to your height difference and raise your eyebrows. It makes him laugh so hard that he starts coughing. “You looked… ah- concentrated.” He gasps, trying to catch his breath.
“We can either go back or jump it.” You say, turning to everyone else.
“Jump it.” Jack says from behind, playfully challenging you, “I bet you won’t.” You two always loved to joke around with each other, whether it was in-game or in real life. There would be certain times that Jack would invite you to his stream just to dare you to do something. Whether it was to kill one of Techno's dogs on the Dream SMP or if it was to yell at your mom when she told you to make dinner, you always fulfilled his dares. You weren't afraid of a challenge.
You shrug, letting yourself get cocky, “Observe.”
The water isn’t too deep, but your shoes aren’t waterproof, and they are the only pair of shoes that you can wear hiking. It’ll probably be uncomfortable to wear them for the rest of the trip if they get wet. You think of yourself as a pretty active person, given that you play video games for a living. You can easily jump it, but you aren't sure about everyone else.
You take a step back, getting ready for a running start. You take a deep breath. “Just remember, if you fall in, we will laugh.” Tommy says. You look over to see his phone pointed at you.
“Thanks, that helps a lot, dick.” You say, with a smile on your face. You hear George and Ranboo snicker under their breaths.
Taking a deep breath, you push off. Waiting till the last stretch of ground to use as a boost, you jump. You’re in the air for what feels like hours but what’s really a couple of seconds. Your feet meet the dirt ground, and you hold your arms out for balance so you don’t fall on your face. You let go of the breath you didn’t know you were holding then turn around and bow, staring right at Jack. “Your turn, bitch.”
Everyone laughs, and they usher him on. “Take your time, it’s not a race,” you say, seriously as he gets ready to jump.
He makes it over in a couple of seconds, doing the same thing you did. You stand at the other side, ready to catch someone if they fall in. Next was George, he didn’t jump as far as the rest of you, so you really had to catch his arm and prevent him from falling. The back of his foot dipped in a little, so they were wet. Other than a little stain and a wet heel, he was fine.
After George, Tubbo made it through with some minor difficulties. He jumped a little too early and screamed, “Oh no!” as both his feet fell into the water. He managed to not fall all the way in, but his feet were drenched. You catch his arm, however, you almost fall if George didn’t grab your other hand. The camera around Tubbo’s chest didn't get wet but it did catch both yours and George’s panicked faces as you realized Tubbo almost fell in. Tommy wouldn’t forget to leave that in the bloopers video.
“It’s alright, Tubbo,” Tommy calls out from the other side after he was done laughing.
Next to come over was Ranboo. With his overwhelming height, he made it over pretty easily. But an overhanging branch – that none of the short ones see – did knock his sunglasses off his face. He yelled out, “Noo! Not again!” as they plopped into the water.
You cover your mouth to stifle a laugh as he lands on the other side next to the rest of you. He sees you and punches your arm, “I... will throw you into the water, if you continue to laugh.” He says, laughing throughout his sentence.
"You have to go into the water!" You laugh, taking a breath, "How do you expect me not to laugh?"
He sighs, ending it with a scoff before walking up to the water’s edge; you cover your mouth, struggling not to laugh. He crouches at the edge and reaches over, trying not to get drenched in dirty rainwater, and plucks the sunglasses out of the water.
Tubbo's laughter behind you made you burst out laughing again. Once his glasses were out of the water, the laughter died down. “How are they holding up?” You ask as he cleans them.
Ranboo sighs, “Well, as long as no one decides to hit me with another branch, they should last to the end of this vlog.”
“When I see an opportunity, I take it.” You shrug, smiling.
Lastly, Tommy jumped, but he had the camera and wanted the viewers to watch him. “Jack, catch!” He yells, getting ready to throw it. Jack catches it but it slips out of his hands. Tommy screams his name but Jack catches it before it touches the dirty water. He flips it around, so it was pointing at Tommy. He takes a deep breath before getting ready.
“Pro move right here, boys!” Tommy yells, before running.
You shake your head, “Watch him fall in.”
Jack laughs and agrees as Tommy jumps. He lands on the dirt trail and screams in victory for he had not fallen in. "Let's go, bitch!" He then runs down the trail, not waiting for the rest of you. Jack and you laugh as the others look at him with a confused expression. Then you all start to walk after him.
Because you and Tommy made it over without difficulty, you both received a point. Ranboo and Tubbo didn’t get a point. Starting the challenge off with 2-1.
The path went through the forest and down the side of a hill, then through another part of the forest. Tommy kept making jokes as he, Jack, and George all went ahead. Tubbo and Ranboo were walking in front of you, talking about the trip over the Atlantic and the ride to Tubbo's house - where you all decided to stay. Then they talk about what was next to come to the Dream SMP. You were behind everyone, enjoying the sounds of birds chirping, bugs buzzing, and leaves dancing in the wind. Some water sprinkled down onto the path, but it felt nice against the heat from the sun.
To your right, you hear leaves rustle and quickly turn your head. The bush leaves moved but not with the gentle breeze of the wind; something was in the bushes. You stop but keep your distance, you have no idea what could be in those bushes. You look up at Tubbo and Ranboo, who were still ahead while the others were already around the corner and out of sight. You take a deep breath and crouch, opening the bushes.
Under the bush, lay a baby deer. You gasp softly as it looks up at you, not moving its head. "Shh, you're fine, little guy," you say, quietly. You don't know if the UK has white-tail deer but this baby didn't look like one. You aren’t sure what deer this is, but the bumps on his head clearly indicate that it is a male. He has spots on his back, but not as many as a white-tail deer have.
Before they turn the corner, Ranboo turns around to look at you and sees that you were crouched on the ground looking at something. He bumps Tubbo's arm and he also looks back, "Hm, what?"
"Let's go see what they’re looking at."
You hear footsteps approaching and you see the fawn’s feet flick with anticipation to run away. “Shhh! Stop moving, you’ll scare him.” You speak quickly and quietly. The footsteps stop a bit away from you.
“Who?” Tubbo asks.
"Come look but don't spook him," you say, opening the bushes wider. The two quietly walk up and the fawn picks up his head. "Awww," Tubbo says, crouching down next to you. Ranboo crouches down on your other side, waving slightly at the fawn.
Tubbo makes sure the camera caught the fawn by adjusting the strap around his torso. He picks his hand up to pet the back of him but you grab his wrist.
"Don't pet him." You simply say, letting go of his hand. The fawn keeps looking between the three of you, spooked but not terrified for its life.
Tubbo frowns, "Why not?"
"His mom is somewhere nearby and if the baby smells too much like us, she'll abandon him," I respond, “That’s what deer in America do, at least, I’m not sure about here.”
“Even then, you don’t know what he’s been into. We can’t necessarily wash our hands.” Ranboo says, agreeing with you.
“Do you know what deer this is?” You ask, looking over at Tubbo.
He looks at it for a few seconds before shrugging, “I don’t know much about the wildlife.”
“But you live here.” Ranboo looks baffling.
You nod, giving him a thumbs up before grabbing your phone, and take a photo. Later, you’ll probably make an Instagram or a Twitter post about the hike. “Alright, let’s keep going.”
"Oi!" You hear someone shout. All three of you turn and see Tommy standing in the trail. "What are you guys doing?"
"Deer," Tubbo says, pointing at the ground.
You shake your head, looking up at Tommy, "I saw a fawn and wanted them to come to look at it."
“What kind of deer?” He asks.
“Tubbo doesn’t know,” You respond as Tommy walks over, “Although he lives here.”
Tommy takes a look and nods, “It's a Roe Deer. Pretty common around here. Now, come on, there's still more to look at!" He laughs, waiting for you guys to get up.
"We should have a tree-climbing contest," Tubbo says behind you and Tommy.
Both of you look behind at him while Ranboo looks down at him. You and Tommy were in mid-conversation about planning another Minecraft video next week when Tubbo blurted out. "Wh-what? That was so random Toby!" Tommy laughs.
Tubbo shrugs, "I dunno, what else do you do on a hike?"
"Yeah, climbing trees could be a part of a hike.." Ranboo agrees, holding his chin in thought.
You shrug, "I don't see why not, but shouldn’t we catch up to Jack and George?"
"If you wanna run after them." Tommy suggests, “They didn’t slow down when I went back for your asses.”
Tubbo laughs, “So who wants to race against who?”
“I think it should be tall people vs short people.” You say, then look between the two giants, “I honestly want to see who will win between the two of you.”
They nod and you continue walking down the trail, looking for two trees that are close together. “Okay, (Your Name), you and Tommy first,” Tubbo says, once you guys found the perfect setup. The trees were similar in height and within arm’s length.
"Why am I racing Tommy?" You ask, pointing at the two tallest, “I thought you two were racing.” You completely forgot about the challenge.
“They’re on the same team, (Your Name)! We have to win against them.” Tubbo says, raising his hand in a high-five, “You got this!”
You smile, raising your hand, “I don’t but thanks for the encouragement!”
"Well, you could always race me," Ranboo says. Although he had a mask on, you knew he was smirking underneath. “I’d want to see that.”
You point in his general direction, “Never, in a million years, we all know who will win.”
"Okay, fair." He agrees, “but the winners have to go against each other to earn an extra point.”
Tommy nods, “I like those odds, unless, of course, Ranboo and I win both rounds, or if - somehow - (Your Name) and Tubbo win.”
You agree, “If they win both rounds, I say they automatically get that extra point.”
Tommy snaps his fingers and points at you, “Even better.”
You both walk up to the trees. "Ready?" Tubbo says, standing behind. Ranboo sits back and watches, as Tubbo gets ready to count down.
"I'm going to win. I won't lose to a short person." You hear Tommy say next to you.
You scoff, "You'll eat those words, you cocky bastard."
"On your marks."
"I never knew you as competitive, (Your Name)," Tommy says, looking over at you. You keep your gaze up and plan the easiest route up, "It's rare,” You shrug, then look over at him, “but I can be."
"Get set," Tubbo says, waiting a second more to continue.
Tommy laughs, "Let's see if it will back you up."
You don't say anything until Tubbo yells, "Go!". Both of you immediately start to climb before the word leaves Tubbo’s mouth. With Tommy’s slimmer body and height, he was able to grab higher branches and pull himself up quickly. However, you have been climbing trees your whole life before you joined the streaming community. Before you started playing video games, you and your little brother used to play outside all the time and so you knew when branches were sturdy enough to hold your weight or not.
You grab one branch and hoist yourself up, using the branches below as a small jump boost. It wasn’t really effective because the branches were so close.
Quickly as you could, you made your way to the middle of the tree, careful as to not lose your footing and fall the 14 or so feet down. To your left, Tommy was underneath a couple of branches or so. You climb up a little bit more before you look down to call for Tubbo, “When do we stop?!” you called down; Tommy also stops and looks down.
Tubbo and Ranboo are at the bottom, the camera pointing up at the trees as Tommy and you climb up.
Footsteps behind them makes the camera turn quickly, revealing a Jack and George coming down the trail, “What are you guys doing?!” Jack yells, laughing at the two that were staring at a tree.
“Tommy is trying to race (Your Name) in a tree-climbing contest,” Ranboo says, pointing up.
“Why did you leave us behind?” Tubbo asks as Jack points the camera up to the trees.
Before he could respond, there could be a distant question being asked from above, “When do we stop?!”
“Huh?”
“When do we stop?!” could be heard louder.
Ranboo and Tubbo look at each other before looking up trying to see where they both are. Ranboo, being taller, takes a step back and can see them clearly, “Ummm, well, (Your Name) is almost at the top and Tommy is not far behind. Should we say where she is, or a little higher?” He asks, looking at Jack and George.
There was a slight pause for the judges to decide and a moment later, you hear, “1 more branch (Your Name)!” coming from Tubbo.
You smile as Tommy gasps, “Wha? - No-No! This isn’t fair.” He huffs, “Gogy, give me speed!”
You climb up and then tap the tree as if there was a button to press before starting to climb down. Tommy is complaining as you pass him. He climbed up two more branches before you could hear Ranboo yell.
Smiling all the way down, you climb as fast as your limbs can go. Without realizing how close you are, your arm gets caught on a branch. There is a bit of pain in the muscle and on your skin from the bark scratching you. After picking your arm up and removing it, you hear a branch snap and a high-pitch scream from Tommy up above.
A branch falls from above, getting tangled on other branches. You stop, trying to see Tommy’s bright blue shirt. Once you see a glimpse, you sigh in relief. “You good?” you call out to him.
He looks over at you and nods, “Yeah, just spooked me.”
You laugh, continuing to move down, “Be careful as to not fall, we don’t need to clickbait TommyInnit’s death.'' You hear him laugh from the other tree.
You step down and see the rest of them, including George and Jack. They must have come back for the group once they realized they were so far ahead.
When you are a couple of feet from the lowest branch, you jump down and land by the tree, stumbling a bit to where you fall on your butt. Everyone laughs, including you, however, you are declared the winner of the round. Your phone has fallen out of your back pocket and you check to make sure it isn’t broken.
“Are you okay?” Ranboo asks, as he comes over and puts his hand out.
You look up, putting your phone away, “Yeah,” then you take his hands. Pulling yourself up, you finish, “I’ll regret it later on the ride to Tubbo’s though.”
He laughs and nods, letting go of your hands, “Yeah, probably.”
Tommy yells from the tree before he safely makes his way back down. You stand next to Ranboo and Tubbo as he wipes the leaves and bark off his clothes.
“I wish I knew we were doing this; I would have brought a bottle of water.” You say, looking at your so-called “host”.
He shrugs, “I didn’t even think about a tree-climbing contest; Toby did. How was I supposed to know?” He laughs at the end of his sentence.
You laugh along, reaching over to punch his shoulder playfully “I’m just giving you shit. Good job though, it looks like you can lose against a short person.”
Tubbo shouts “Yeah!” and fist-bumps you as Tommy’s mouth drops and he scoffs. Ranboo shrugs behind you, looking over at Tommy, “You had to see that coming.” The others were snickering, shoving Tommy’s shoulders because he was proven wrong.
The look on his face makes you laugh even more, clapping your hands together once. Once the laughter dies down again, you look at Tubbo, “Alright, you versus Ranboo.”
“Oh god, that’s- that’s not going to be good, I haven’t climbed a tree in a long time!” Tubbo exclaims.
“Too bad. I had to battle blondie here, I think you can race against the tallest one.” You shrug before standing on your tippy-toes to whisper into his ear, “Use his height against him, find smaller ways to pull yourself up; quickly and safely.”
Tubbo nods, “Okay, I’ll do my best.”
The two of them walk up to the same trees that their partners had climbed and got ready. You and Tommy say, “Ready?” at the same time. You snicker before letting Tommy continue. “On your marks.” He looks over at you. Nodding, you smile and look at Tubbo. He has his head held high, searching for a good route, “Get set.” You both count down from three using your fingers and yell, “Go!”
Tubbo pulls himself up quickly, using the same route you used. Ranboo reaches up and grabs the tallest branch he can. Pulling himself up, he uses the smaller ones as steps. After a few seconds of climbing, they were out of sight. You take a few steps back and can see Tubbo’s dark hoodie through the leaves.
George walks over to stand next to you, “I remember where you and Tommy stopped, so I’ll tell you when to yell for Tubbo.”
“Okay, thanks George,” You say, taking a quick glance at him and flashing a smile. “I think this is certainly a twist in the vlog; tall vs short.”
He chuckles, “Yeah, by the way, Jack and I talked. He’s going to be the judge of those two and I’m going to be the judge of you and Tubbo. We talked about that when we went ahead.”
“You mean left us behind?” You joke, looking back up at Tubbo who was struggling to get his footing. Ranboo was already starting to pass him.
George scoffs, “Wha- well, don’t be slow then.” He shrugs, crossing his arms, “Keep up.”
You open your mouth in a silent gasp, your lips curling into a smile. But before you can say anything, Tommy yells, “You’re good Ranboo! Climb down!”
Focusing back on the “challenge”, you see Tubbo climb to the same height Ranboo was on his way down. He climbs another branch before George bumps your arm. You turn your head and he nods. “Climb down, Tubbo!” You yell.
Now, it’s just a race to see who can get down the fastest. The tree limbs were the right length for Tubbo to grasp, but the branches on Ranboo’s tree were closer together. However, he still had Tubbo beat by 5 or so branches. You cheer Tubbo on and Tommy follows shortly thereafter; he tries to scream over you, but you cover his mouth with your hand for a brief second before he pushes you away, laughing.
Ranboo reaches the ground and a few seconds later, so does Tubbo. You all clap while Tommy screams in victory, high-fiving Ranboo.
“It’s okay Tubbo, it was close.” You say, bringing your first forward in a fist bump. He looks defeated, but he completes the fist bump. “Besides,” you say, “There will be a chance to redeem yourself.”
You hear the others laughing and Jack calls you over, “Okay, last round, (Your Name) vs Ranboo; Tallest vs shortest.”
“You call me the shortest again, I will kick your ankles out and you’ll be the shortest. I don’t need to be reminded that I’m short.” You threaten him, playfully.
George cuts in before Jack can retaliate, “You’ll switch trees as well, that way you don’t know which way is the quickest.”
You nod as Ranboo agrees, “That’s a fair point.”
You switch trees and look up, deciding where to start. Ranboo clears his throat and you look up at him, “May the best person win.” He raises his hand for a handshake. You take it and shake, “Good luck, although you don’t need much of it.”
“And you do?”
You look up at him through the sunglasses, “Are you seriously asking that?” You laugh, asking again, “Do you see the height difference between us. If not, sir, you need glasses.”
Tommy interrupts whatever Ranboo was about to say, “Are you guys done fucking flirting or shall we continue?”
“We’re not fucking flirting, dickhead!” You shout back, smiling, “It’s called friendly competition. Something that’s not in your vocabulary.”
He scoffs, “I know what competition is, bitch!”
You nod, curling your lips as if you were disgusted, but it was merely disbelief. A smile then takes its place when you turn back to the tree you were standing in front of.
Jack and George start the countdown and you get ready to spring into action; literally. There was a branch at your mid-thigh that you would climb and use to jump higher into the tree. The branches on this tree weren’t as close as the other one, some were so far apart you’d have to hop a little to get there. From that point on, you would climb without looking over at Ranboo. You’d rather just climb and hope you were above him.
As soon as they both yell “go!”, you sprang into action. Quickly grabbing the branch above and pulling yourself up, you use the lower branch to jump higher into the tree. You hear Tommy encourage Ranboo and Tubbo cheer you on. The two judges are silent but a smile is on George’s face.
You pull yourself up higher and see a branch that had been broken off. It was probably the branch Tommy broke earlier when you first raced. Taking a quick glance over, you see that Ranboo is actually branches below you. He seems to be struggling because the branches are too close together. You see him stop and take off the glasses and mask and throw it down to the group. Oh shit, you think, things just got real. “You okay down there, Ranboo?”
“These branches!” You hear him sigh, “They’re crisscrossing and making it very-ah,” He struggles to climb up, “very difficult to climb!”
You laugh, stopping to watch, “Maybe you did need that good luck!”
He chuckles, looking up at you with a smile, “Yeah, I guess so.”
Turning your attention back to the tree, you continue to climb. Soon enough, you hear your name from below and you start to climb down. A few seconds later, Tommy calls out to Ranboo, panic in his voice. You start to descend, making sure that you don’t lose your footing or catch your arm again.
The shouts got closer a few minutes later when you appear underneath the leaves and see the group. You almost lost your footing, but you grab a branch that your arm was up against to steady yourself. As you get closer, you jump off the side of the tree and land, stumbling on your feet. There was a minute or two before Ranboo makes his way down. He held his hands out to steady himself before looking at the group, “I didn’t expect the branches to be so close.”
Tommy yelled at Ranboo for losing to someone who was over a foot shorter than him. You snicker, as Tubbo high fives you with both hands. “That’s three points for us!” He stops, “or did that point from Ranbooo’s glasses count as well?'' He looks at the judges.
They both look at each other and nod. You two cheer and high-five again, catching the attention of the other “contestants”. “Wh-what?” Tommy gasps, then turns to Ranboo, who was putting his mask and glasses back on, “You dumb motherfuck-”
The six of you continue down the trail, you and Tubbo lagging behind a bit to talk about your next point. You all agreed that you could prank one another and receive a point from the judges. Ranboo and Tommy were talking, Tommy having to keep his voice down; which was something he never does.
“Okay, so I was thinking we should scare them.” Tubbo starts, whispering, “We could crouch and hide behind something in our next activity and scare them. Like blow-them-off-their-feet scary!’
You giggle a bit, “I like it, but I don’t think there’s anything we could do to scare them. Unless we pretended to be hurt- scratch that. That’s not a good idea.”
You walk down the trail, eventually coming to a little meadow area. There were no trees, just open grassland. Tubbo suddenly gasps and runs out into the field a little ways away from the trail. Confused, you yell out “Toby?” and take off after him and stop when he does. There is a bumblebee flying around the flower; you close your eyes, a smile on your face.
The others came walking over, watching the both of you run through the field. “What is it, Toby?”
“Bees!” He says, looking back and having one of the biggest smiles you’ve ever seen on him; Other than when he saw you and Ranboo standing in the airport two months ago.
You smile, as Tommy laughs, “Come on bud! We’ll see more on the way!”
Tubbo jumps up, scaring the bee so it let go of the flower it was perched on and buzzes away. You watch it till you can’t see it anymore. Whilst doing so, you didn’t realize that everyone was already walking away except Ranboo. “You coming?” He asks when you look over and see him.
You nod, stepping over the tall grass, heading for the path. Ranboo turns and walks with you, side-by-side. “Congratulations on your 4 points,” He starts, looking over at the treeline above your head.
“Thank you. Hopefully whatever Jack and George come up with next as a challenge is fairer. We wouldn’t want your height to get in the way of your win.” You shrug, looking up at him, “I told you to stop growing last year.”
He chuckles, “I know, but it's not like I can control it. If people could, we wouldn’t have so many short people like you,”
You scoff, looking up to see him looking forward, but through the little space in between his glasses and eyes, you see his cheeks rise in a smirk. Bumping him in his arm with your elbow, you scoff again. “Without us short people, you tall people wouldn’t be tall. So,” You stick your tongue out.
“(Your Name)! Look out!”
You look up at Tubbo to see him waving his arm in the air. Struck with confusion, you don’t hear the tall blonde behind you. Hands suddenly grab your shoulders and Tommy screams your name, scaring you.
“Ahh!” You scream, whipping around to see Tommy laughing.
Jack and George watch from a distance, laughing and clapping. “Two points for the tall guys. One for scaring (Your Name) and another for Ranboo’s betrayal.”
“No!” You laugh, crouching as you hear Ranboo laughing behind you. You turn around, not standing up, “I trusted you, Ranboo!”
He laughs, “I-I’m sorry, we needed the points.”
You stand up, pretending to be upset, “I’ll never trust you again, Ranboo.” You shake your head, walking off after the group.
“Good, he doesn’t need short friends like you!” Tommy yells before he can say anything. You gasp dramatically, turning around and flipping him off. Then you look at Ranboo and move your middle fingers and pointer fingers into a heart. He does it back and you all continue down the path.
Before you hit the forest, Jack stops to check the time. “Alright, we got an hour and a half till your mum’s come and pick you up. Shall start the last activity?”
All four of you “contestants” yell, raising your fists in the air. Ranboo was last to raise his hand, giving a muted cheer.
“Can I say it? Please, can I say?” George asks, smiling widely.
After a nod from Jack, he looks at the group, “We’re playing hide and seek.”
You smile, looking over at Tubbo, “I haven’t played hide and seek in so long. Well, with so many people; I’m used to playing with my brother. I always have to go easy.”
Tommy laughs, “How tiring is that?”
You look at him with a look that clearly says ‘don’t-get-me-started’, “He always cries when I find him; he’s fucking 11!” Tommy laughs and the other two snicker.
Jack claps his hands to get everyone’s attention back to the bet. “So, we’re going to play hide and seek. We,” He gestures to himself and George, “are the hunters and you guys will hide. If we see you, you have a chance of outrunning us. We have to tag you for you to be out.”
“You got two lives, after we tag you once, you have 10 seconds to run away before we can chase you; we will take one point away.” George continues, “And then when we tag you a second time, you’re out and will head back here to this meadow.”
Tommy raises his arm, “Are there any safe places?”
Jack and George look at each other with expressions that say ‘should-we?’, then they look back at him, “Nah, the whole forest is the playing field, not the meadow. We’ll play until the night hits. Once we can’t see each other, use your phone’s flashlight to find the trail and head to the end, and wait. If there are any emergencies, use your flashlight and yell.”
“Everyone got it?”
“Shouldn’t everyone have a camera?” You ask, pulling your phone out of your sweatshirt pocket.
Tommy claps, “Yes, that way we can get multiple POVs.”
You nod as Ranboo and George pull out their phones and Tubbo looks down at his chest. Jack hands Tommy’s phone to him and pulls out his own. You start recording and point it around at everyone.
“Okay, is everyone ready now?” Jack asks.
You look at Tubbo and nod. Behind you, you hear, “Let’s trip the small ones!” You look back, pointing your camera at him, “If you trip one of us, I will jump on your back and you will give me a piggyback ride.”
He raises his one hand in defeat, “Okay, okay, fair enough.”
“Go!”
The four of you turn and run into the forest. You and Tubbo stick together and run off the trail and into the heavily wooded area. There are bushes in your face that you push out of the way with your unoccupied hand. Tubbo was slightly behind you, keeping up unlike the other two when you last see them. Ranboo has longer legs so he can run faster than Tommy; when you see them in the field, Ranboo was leading with Tommy still a ways behind him.
You reach a small clearing where trees don’t grow big and there was a small clearing. There is a large fallen tree laying down in the clearing. It was broken open by the impact of the fall, “Toby!” You pant, “Follow me.”
He nods and you both walk around the log. You crouch to check out the inside; it was hollow enough for one person to sit inside. “Shit! There’s only space for one.” You look up at Tubbo, pointing your phone’s camera at him, “You hide here, I’ll hide close by.”
“Okay.”
He crawls inside and hides as best as he could, tucking his feet and loose clothing inside. “It smells like wood in here.” He says. You snort, “I dunno, maybe because it's a tree?” You shrug.
Once he is comfortable inside, you check the outside to make sure you can’t see him. If you were a seeker, you wouldn’t notice him unless he made a noise. “That’s great! Now stay quiet and they’ll never find you. I’ll come back and get you if I don’t get chased.”
You hear a muffle, “Okay!”
Running around looking for a hiding spot, you realize that there aren’t a lot of places to hide, other than climbing trees or hiding in bushes. But even then, your brightly colored sweatshirt would shine through. Tubbo is wearing a darker color, maybe he should’ve looked for a better place and you should’ve hidden in the log.
You stop and hear the bushes move and you freeze. You stay behind the tree you are closest to, waiting for the seeker to find you. Pointing your camera around, you panic, “I think someone’s there.”
“(Your Name)!” You hear someone whisper to your right. It’s too low to hear to recognize who it was. “George is in the clearing behind you, come here!”
Not falling for the prank, you crouch, and whisper, “How do I know you’re not a seeker?”
You see the weeds shake a bit and hear quiet laughter. Then just barely you see brown hair and sunglasses peaking over the grass through the darkening light, “It’s just me.”
Shaking your head, you smile. You look behind you and see George turning his back on you and walking in a different direction. “Good. He’s leaving,” you whisper to yourself and the camera. Making little to no noise, you dive over the bush and roll a bit before stopping.
Ranboo laughs, adjusting his mask, “Why did you jump like that?” He whispers loudly.
You crawl up next to him and stay crouched in the weeds, “Because I can.” You laugh, wiping the dirt and grass off the back of your thigh and legs.
“A-are you okay?” Ranboo asks.
You nod, looking around, “Yeah, a couple of scratches, but they’ll be gone by the end of this.”
The two of you stay together for a while, moving around the clearing when you think you hear a seeker. A while later, you hear distant screams from Tommy and that’s when you remember Tubbo. “Shit!” You look to the side, your eyes widening.
Ranboo looks down at you, concern in his expression although you can't see his face behind the glasses and the darkening sky. “What’s wrong?” He asks.
“I forgot Tubbo!” You jump up and run into the clearing. The seekers weren’t anywhere that you could hear or see, so there was nothing to worry about. You hear Ranboo following you as you laugh, “He’s hiding and I said we’d move in a few minutes, that was like 15 minutes ago.”
Ranboo laughs, “Hopefully he stayed.”
You enter the clearing from before and see the log. “There.” You point as Ranboo follows behind you.
“The log?” He asks, looking around for seekers.
You walk over to the side of the log and before you poke your head in to check, you hear, “(Your Name)?”
“I almost got caught, but I ran away.” You say, letting Tubbo use your hand to help him out and not fall on his butt. He nods and stretches his legs, looking behind you to see Ranboo, “What is he doing here?”
You glance back at Ranboo, “He found me when George almost saw me.”
“You forgot about me because you found Ranboo?!” He raises his voice, jokingly.
You raise your hands in defense, “Hey, I said I could have gotten caught in the beginning.” You put your finger on his chest, laughing; Ranboo lowers his phone to record you.
“But you left me!” He says playfully angry. “You left me to hide with Ranboo!”
“Well, er,” you shrug, “Wouldn’t you do the same?”
Tubbo opens his mouth to protest and then closes it a second later to think before nodding, agreeing with you, “Yeah, yeah, I would too. Ranboo is cool.”
“Aww, you guys,” Ranboo says and you both break off into laughter. “You guys don’t have to pick me over each other-”
Ranboo stops mid-sentence and turns his head. That’s when you hear loud footsteps behind you. “Seekers!”
“Split up!” You turn completely around and run through the bushes. You hear the other two run away and the seekers deciding who to pick. George runs after Tubbo and Jack runs after you; you hear one of them say they can’t outrun Ranboo and you mentally agree.
You still have a large lead ahead of Jack as you run through the forest. “How are you so fast? You’re short!” You hear him yell and you laugh.
At the last second, you see a root and jump over it, turning your head, “Jack, watch out for the root!” You say and hear him land a second later and say “thanks”.
Before you know it, you reach the trail and stop, looking around for somewhere to hide. Jack is getting louder and louder as he gets closer. “Shit.” You turn left and head back the way you came and towards the meadow. The wind whistling in your ear makes you lose the sound of Jack and you aren’t sure if he was behind you or not.
You stop once, your pounding heart making its way into your eardrums. You could barely breathe without sounding like a dog. That’s when you see the meadow within the dying light from the setting sun. Looking back at the forest, you can barely see down the trail. I think it's time to head to the exit, You think to yourself.
“Guys, I can’t see anyone so I’m gonna call it good. I think… Tubbo and I won. I don’t know who's been tagged and who hasn’t. I don’t think Tubbo has. Tommy might have, but I don’t see him in the meadow so. Let’s head back-” You see a bright light within the forest and point your camera at it, “There’s someone, let's find them and head back.”
Once you get close enough to the light, you call out to them; it was Jack and Tommy. Tommy was on his way to the meadow because he tripped and couldn’t get up in time to avoid being tagged a second time. The three of you start walking back when you run into Ranboo who hasn’t been tagged at all. Toward the end of the trail, Tubbo and George join the group and you guys make it to the end.
The forest stops and opens to a parking lot with benches and restrooms. Lanterns are on the tables and hanging from nearby trees. There is another trail that leads through the woods and there is a sign lit up by a lantern that says, “Star-Gazing”.
You gasp, and point, getting the attention of Tubbo, “Let’s go star gaze! Your mom isn’t here yet.”
He checks his phone and sees that it is only 7:50. Nodding, he says, “Alright.”
“We still have to know who won, (Your Name)!” Tommy laughs, getting your attention back.
You open your mouth in a silent gasp and close it, nodding, “I... forgot.” You smile, laughing lightly.
It takes a few minutes for Jack and George to remember who got the points and why. You and Tubbo got one for pranking Ranboo in the very beginning, one for jumping over the puddle without any issues, and two for winning the tree-climbing contest; leaving you and Tubbo with 4 points. Ranboo and Tommy got one for jumping over the puddle, two points for pranking (Your Name), and then lost one when George caught Tommy the first time; leaving them with two points.
When the two gather everyone, they announce that your team won. You and Tubbo cheer and high-five. Were you secretly keeping count in your head since the beginning of the bet? Yes, yes, you were.
Tommy blames their loss on Ranboo, playfully, but everyone knows that it was really him that made them lose. However, none of you told him. By the time 8 o’clock rolls around, you were practically jumping on your toes to go stargazing. The night air was just peaceful and you can’t imagine yourself anywhere else other than here with your friends after a good day of hanging out.
“Okay, let's go watch the stars while we wait for our mums,” Tubbo says, pointing down the trail.
You immediately start walking that way and you almost don't catch the laugh from Jack and what he says in response, “While you guys wait for your mum’s; I can leave whenever and take George with me.”
“Not Gogy. He must stay.” Tommy says, pointing at Jack.
Tubbo was the closest one to you and you were still ahead of him. The trail takes only a couple of minutes to walk and it opens up to a small hill and meadow. Once out of the forest, the trail ends, turning to grass. You pick a spot at the top of the hill near a singular tree.
You lay down and are greeted by the millions of stars in the sky. There are few constellations that you can see that you remember, like the Big Dipper and Small Dipper, Draco, and Ursa Major and Minor.
You are too busy looking for more constellations to notice Ranboo sitting down next to you. He leans back, using his hands as support. Sometime after Jack chased you away, he had taken off the glasses, which takes you by surprise when you look over and meet his gaze.
He looks away, shaking his head, laughing a bit, “B-Between you and Tommy, I’m starting to think-”
“No, no-” You try to cut him off but he keeps going.
“-that the two of you are- are scared of me.”
You laugh, trying to cover your mouth, “No, that’s not-” You lay your head back and look over at him, “For the last year, whenever I think of you, all I think of is the mask and glasses. Although I know what your face looks like, it’s still weird to see you without them.” You put your hand on his shoulder, “I’m not afraid of you Ranboo. I bet- no, no. I-I know I could beat you in a fight; physically. But that’s the last thing I want to do to you.”
In response, he laughs, “Yeah, I don’t doubt that, but I wouldn’t want to fight you. Tommy would, but me?” He shakes his head, closing his eyes, “Yeah, no.”
You two are silent for a few minutes, looking up into the sky. The others are talking quietly amongst themselves, in fact, so quiet that you almost couldn’t hear them. Then you hear Tommy laugh and you snicker; his laugh always made you smile. You look over at Ranboo, who has his eyebrows scrunched together in a confused expression. Looking down at his mask, an idea pops into your head.
Looking to make sure he isn’t focusing on you, you reach over and pull his mask forward, and let go. He flinches back when it hits his mouth and you laugh, covering your mouth and nose with your hands.
“Why is it always me?!” He yells, readjusting his mask.
You move your hands to your stomach and look over at him, “That’s what happens when you’re friends with me.” You point your thumb at your chest and close your eyes, wearing the biggest smile you can muster.
Ranboo laughs and pushes your shoulder away as you put your hands back on your stomach. “What was your saying from earlier? Something about opportunity-”
“ ‘When I see an opportunity, I take it.’ Simple as that.” You look up at the sky, a smile never leaving your face. Maybe it was a cocky smirk? You wouldn’t disagree.
“Then what’s the opportunity now?”
You look over at him, confused, “What?”
“Hm?” He locks eyes with you, “What opportunity do you see right now?”
Your inner self panics and you freeze, not really knowing how to answer the question. You think for a second, “reading” the environment to see what you can come up with.
Nothing comes to mind. You’re star-gazing with your friends in the woods, there really isn’t anything you can think of as an opportunity. You look at Ranboo - who was staring at the sky - and try to see if you can prank him again, but he would expect you to mess with his mask or flick his sunglasses off - if he had them on.
Then something small comes to your mind and you almost discard it immediately. But the more that you think of it, the more you like the idea. You spend a few moments thinking. Is it really a good idea?Does it make your insides a bit fuzzy and warm? Yes, yes it does. You’ve never really thought of Ranboo in this way, you are friends. But while you think of the idea more, your expression lightens and you feel happier.
Waiting for Ranboo to focus on star-gazing, you gather your courage and take a deep breath. You sit up and lean forward, quickly dragging his mask down to his chin. Startled, he turns his head and then freezes when he realizes how close the two of you are. Your lips are almost touching and you can hear his breath hitch.
As soon as your eyes lock with his grey ones, your top lip twitches into a smile, “...Is... is this okay?” you ask, your voice just barely over a whisper. If he wasn’t so close to you, you would fear that he didn’t hear you.
“Y-Ye... Yeah.”
“You asked me what the opportunity was here,” you continue, your voice still quiet, as you lean back slightly, “if you’re okay with it, so am I. I don’t want to kiss you without consent.”
Ranboo unfreezes and comes back to reality, “I… I-I didn’t know you felt this way about me…” he mumbles, barely moving his lips.
You shrug, your gaze falling to the side, “I guess the feelings were… buried.”
He chuckles, “ ‘Buried?’ That’s the best you got?”
You giggle, move your head away slightly. Not a second later, you feel his hand bring your face back to where it was and you lock eyes with him once again. He opens his mouth to say something but someone else cuts him off.
“So are you guys gonna fucking kiss? Or no? I’ve been standing here for like 2 minutes.” Tommy’s voice comes from the left.
You both almost jump out of your skins. You look over and he has his hand on his hip, staring down at the two of you.
You shuffle away from each other and look up at him like two children that are being scolded by their mothers. You cover your mouth with your hand but smirk underneath. Ranboo clears his throat and looks up at Tommy, leaving his mask at his chin. Even in the dark you can see how pink his face has become.
“W-What did you need, Tommy?”
“Nothing.” He shrugs, walking down the hill. You can see him stumbling a bit, trying not to fall. You look at Ranboo - feeling the warmth of your blush die away - and you both burst out laughing.
You lay back down, staring up at the stars once again. More seem to have appeared within the last few minutes while you were... distracted. You close your eyes, a small smile resting on your face as you think about it.
A moment later you feel your hand being picked up from your stomach. Startled, you look over to see Ranboo laying down next to you, holding your hand at your side. You look up at his face and see him staring at the sky.
Smiling wider, you look up and watch a small “shooting star” fly through the atmosphere. You take that as a good sign about what could happen in the future and feel those damn butterflies take over your insides.
“This will be quite the 1 year special for the viewers, huh?'' You laugh, looking over at Ranboo with a genuine smile.
He looks over, a smile plastered on his face, “Honestly, some probably won’t be surprised. There have been so many theories that we’ve been dating.”
“Well, I think we just made some theorists' dreams come true.”
Did the two of you enjoy the rest of your time under the stars? Yes, you did. The only question is, what happened? That is for you to decide, reader. Nothing explicit though, you are both still minors.